On this day in 1920, Prohibition began, ushering in the era of bootleggers and rum-runners. Coincidentally, today was also the birthday, in 1899, of Al Capone, one of the most famous gangsters of the Jazz Age.
The term “bootlegger” originated in the 1880s. It was inspired by flasks of alcohol concealed in boots for the purpose of illicit trade. When the Eighteenth Amendment went into effect in the US, smuggling alcohol became widespread. It’s almost impossible to think of Prohibition without speakeasies, flappers, and bathtub gin. To mark National Bootlegger’s Day, we’ve chosen three sapphic books with flappers that take place during the 1920s.
